Top 17 SEO tips to keep in mind for any online business.

If you have been buying into the hype that SEO is dead and social media is the new search, Wake up! SEO is alive and has evolved.

It has focused more into content marketing and social media optimization. The interest on content and presentation that is palatable for humans as well as search engines is being renewed.

So, I have compiled few tips to help small businesses improve on their SEO efforts.

#1 : Think content

‘Content is king’, has been and always will be. Sites are mainly ranked on the basis of content they make which makes it important to make your site relevant for the terms people are searching for, and give people a reason to visit your site again.

Make sure your content have a longer shelf life, i.e. it shouldn’t age quickly. Posts should be ‘evergreen content’ that will keep visitors coming to the site in long term period.

#2. Reader or customer first

Stop being obsessed with cramming every keyword you can into a blog post or product description. Rather aim to produce relevant and interesting pages.

Remember you should write for readers, not search engines.

#3. Social media

Social is the new trend, and you ought to be present.

Social media is a cost effective and quick way for small businesses to build their online presence. It is well worth researching and spending time to find sites that work for your business. You can get started with your facebook promotion with these simple steps from Targeting Mantra.

#4. No shortcuts to rank organically

Agencies that promise guaranteed page one ranking results are talking vague. They might use aggressive link building which will give quick results , but it’s likely to harm you more than good in long term .

There are no easy shortcuts to rank organically, though a good SEO agency may help to improve your rankings.

#5. Watch your agency

Don’t trust agencies blindly.

Watch the methods they use carefully , else you are likely to have repercussions lately , perhaps in form of Google penalty.

#6. URL structure

Simple and precise , that’s what a URL ought to be.

People should be able to guess the topic of page by directly looking at it’s URL.

#7. Watch and learn

Learning from your better competitors is always beneficial.

Find out what sites ranking on page one have done , what keywords they have included , what on-site and off-site effort they have made to achieve the ranking.

#8. Don’t neglect internal linking

Smart use of internal linking can help you to rank for certain target keywords, as well as helping your visitors to find useful or related content.

#9. Look into yourself

Use your own site ‘search box’ data to identify target keywords.

This is because the keywords that people use to search within your website, for products or information, are very likely to be the same keywords they use on search engines.

#10. Encourage people to review

Don’t ever fear for getting yourself reviewed.

If it’s a positive one, it will increase your popularity. If negative, will help you to recognise your flaws.

#11. Patience gives the best result

SEO is a long term strategy, comprising of various steps and doesn’t yield sudden results . But , the results are effective and beneficial in the long run.

#12. Mobile optimisation

Mobile is the future computer and web would be accessed mainly from mobile soon.

Even Google is focusing a lot to make internet mobile friendly. It adds labels to sites which are ‘mobile friendly’ and also promotes their index ranking.

#13. Using analytic tools

Use tools which tell about specific problem people encounter while accessing your site.

#15. Write your own description

As retailers , you ought to write specific descriptions for your own products . This differentiates you from the crowd , but the reader gets a better impact and likely end up transacting from you.

#16. It’s a rank

Don’t obsess over SEO rankings.

Search rankings are fluid and vary according to searcher’s location and place , therefore don’t stress yourself up for each change in ranking, rather look for the trend.

#17. Google changes

Google’s algorithms constantly change , and SEO tactics that work now might become obsolete in the near future.

With the recent hummingbird update ,semantic search got into the algorithm which attempts to understand searcher’s intent rather than particular words, thereby pages matching the meaning rank better than those just matching keywords.

And a final tip for the wise:

Value search traffic, but work hard on other channels too. It might be that you get banned by chance from google search result , then you completely get out. Therefore don’t be too reliant on search engine business , rather maintain a social presence and communicate actively through mails.